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Research aid from Kidderminster cancer group

A KIDDERMINSTER support group for prostate cancer patients has helped with ground-breaking research to provide a cheap and accurate test for the male disease.

The Kidderminster Prostate Cancer Support Group provided urine samples from 64 Wyre Forest men to researcher Hardev Pandha, a professor of medical oncology at the University of Surrey.

Mr Pandha was among researchers who carried out studies showing urine testing to be twice as reliable as the existing blood test for detecting the disease. The new urine test is expected to be in doctors’ surgeries later this year.

The group collected the samples while testing men for levels of a protein called prostate specific antigen (PSA) during one of its blood-testing sessions in Kidderminster last year.

Mary Symons, of the Kidderminster group, said: “Kidderminster Prostate Cancer Support Group supported the university with this trial.

“When we did our testing last April all the men who had a blood test were asked if they would contribute a urine sample for this research. Sixty-four of them did, so we really helped push this research forward.”

She added: “We were really very proud to help them. This is quite a ground-breaking piece of research and it is finally coming to fruition.”

The new urine test also tells doctors how serious the disease is and could lead to it being detected faster, helping to save lives. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK .